Julian Alexander Trent DuPont
: "There are necessary actions which need to be taken in situations as dire as this. Hideous, unpleasant actions, they make me look the antagonist. So be it." -Julian Julian is the Military Pillar of Pontis who's been the subject of negative political termoil during recent years. His more recent string of poor descisions and unusual actions has caused him to lose a lot of the popularity he held during the time he bore the title of Domestic Pillar. There are many speculations surrounding the motives behind his questionable moves, but no one knows for certain why he seems to be so effectively trying to run the republic into the ground. His last name strongly suggests that his family line is one of the few still in existence to have originated in Pontis before the city seceded as its own independant republic. Personal History (Warning: This section contains plot spoilers) Julian was born of wealthy, politically influential parents in the Merchants Republic of Pontis, outside the Citadel. His parents were of the mindset that children were simply miniature adults, and grew up being raised as such. His father was a very poignant, powerful man, who parented Julian firmly in hopes that his son would follow his example. At a very young age, the child was given a great deal of responsibility, and was raised to comply politely. As a young child, Julian was quiet, reserved, and extremely well behaved for a child of his age. His unusually mature outwardly demeanor either had guests endearing him, or feeling greatly unnerved by him. The boy quickly learned the true value of efficiency. If there were faster, more efficient ways in getting things done, he'd figure it out--even if that meant employing the services of others around him. In fact, he seemed to greatly prefer working with others and employing the skillsets of more skilled than himself. He enjoyed the challenge of working with others to meet a goal or complete a task set for himself. He learned how to quickly win people over, and utilize their talents--in order to make up for the fact that he had no real talents of his own. By the time Julian turned sixteen, Theodore Thomas Orlin had become very aware that Julian did in fact have a very prominent talent--which lay in his uncanny ability to befriend and manipulate people to meet his needs. The Pillar himself recognized this as a rare, and invaluable trait--especially when dealing in public affairs. He was quick to scoop Julian up under his wing and started training the young boy to be his successor. During his time studying under the Orlin's instruction, Julian was required to learn a great deal about psychology, and sociology, among other topics along the vein of social sciences. He was trained to become extremely versed with words and speech, and greatly refined his ability to converse and maintain civil during arguments. His glasses were acquired at the age of twenty-one, when Orlin grew annoyed at the fact that Julian couldn't seem to properly read what was being written on the board in front of him. After five years of teaching the young Pillar-to-be, and struggling with his seeming inability to read, the Pillar finally figured that maybe his ability to read wasn't the problem, and that his sight was. A vision test quickly revealed that Julian was extremely myopic. After his twenty-third birthday, Julian was finally bestowed with the official title of Domestic Pillar--a role which he was more than prepared to receive, and carried out admirably. During his time as the Domestic Pillar, he garnered a great deal of respect and popularity from the republic's people. He was veiwed not only by the people, but aslo by his peers, as an amicable, approachable, level headed man. He made fast friends with most key members of the Citadel, and fostered a particularily brotherly relationship with Aurther Elliot Fabel. At the age of tenty-five, Mana Maria Wisehart rose to the title of Military Pillar. It was her strong willed, immovable attitude, and fierce compassion for her duties which initially caught the eye of Julian. He went out of his way to make fast friends with her, and soon after, the two of them worked very closely together. Their friendship quickly developed into something of a romance, and together they became a notorious duo. starts here Ten years later, the destruction of the Citadel's fourth tower, and the resulting death of Fabel and his navigational crew left Julian in an uncomfortable position. The damage left behind from the event was far worse than it had first seemed. The Compass Room had not fully survived the blast. Documentation on how to run the Compass Room's equiptment has all but turned to ash, and Julian was the only person left in the Citadel with a very rudementary understanding of how to work the equiptment. He knew, however, that the days of an operating Compass Room were numbered. The machinery of the room slowly began to shut down as the years progressed, and the day he walked into a completely non-functioning Compass Room was the day he put into action his plan to cover up the fact. Julian's demeanor appeared to have flipped over night, and his first measure of action was a drastic one involving himself assuming control of the military without Mana's consent. In the course of only a day, he switched himself over to the role of Military pillar--by accusing Mana for negligence towards her duty as military pillar, which he argued was the cause of the fourth tower's destruction. Taken completely off guard, Mana's arguments had no chance in rivaling Julian's. It was an easy assimilation of position for him, at the complete expense of his relationship with Mana. He soon removed all access from the Compass Room--which was crucial for the navigation of Pontis itself. Soon, bold and loud accusations towards him concluded that the man was on a power trip. Upon taking control of the military, Julian was quick to make the Admiral, Gabriel James Legard, his confidant. To Gabriel, Julian explained the situation of the Compass Room, and his reasoning for taking control of the military. According to what he tolde Legard, Julian was absolutely convinced that if word of the Compass Room's current unworking state were to leak into public ears, there would be panic on the streets. The Compass Room was key to maintaining the city's infastructure, and without it, nothing the existing Pillars could do would help keep the republic functional. Julian concluded that it would be best to induce a political power struggle, rather than reveal that there was no power to struggle over. Because of this, Julian greatly welcomed and encouraged rumors of his so called 'power trip', and played it up accordingly. While public and internal attention was on the strife he had set up, it offered Julian more time to try and diagnose the problems of the Compass Room. However, as two years passed, it was slowly becomming apparent to Julian that there was simply too much he did not know about the room's equiptment and set up--and would need not just years, but decades to decipher it without the nessecary documenation on it. The public's hostilities towards him, as well as hostilities from the two remaining Pillars plays a constant reminder that Julian cannot keep up his charade forever. Mana's strong, growing resentment towards him in particular has him feeling slight worry for his own life. With his previous romantic feelings for the Domestic Pillar still in tact, nothing pains Julian more about his chosen course of action than the resulting loathing towards him from Mana. end As a Military Pillar, he rarely engages in any of the physical aspects of the job himself, requiting the abilities of the more skilled men under him when it comes to such things. Julian is more often seen planning, disussing, and calling orders from the sanctity of his office. Despite rarely ever being seen in combat or combat training, Julian has decent skills with a sword, though his technique is more one for show than for proper combat. He's fourty-one when Mana drags th soothsayer, Wesley Fisher into the equation--and his already high stress situation reaches a new level upon realizing that this soothsayer could very well expose everything he'd been trying to keep under wraps. Personality Julian is a man who strongly disbelieves in the saying, "if you want anything done right, do it yourself". He's a very social person by nature, and needs to be with people, working with people in order to be happy. He feeds off the positive energy of an enthusiastic crowd, and has loved celebratory social events for this reason. Without adequate social interaction, Julian is prone to mild bouts of depression. He also has a tendancy to over estimating his own abilities, as well as feeling stress towards his short comings. Appearance Julian stands at 5'10", being about the average hieght for a man his age. He has fine, thin, sandy colored hair which is starting to desaturate from early signs of graying. Short cut, and nicely groomed, his hair still tends to have a slight, subtle waviness towards the back. His eyes are a light brown to the point of looking almost amber in hue, often behind small, round framed glasses. His facial shape is sharply angled, but some what dainty, with a prominent, sharp jaw. He has thin lips, thin eyebrows, and a narrow, upturned nose. Mild wrinkling on his face gives away his age, and has become increasingly prominant over the past two years due to stress. His body type, while having modest muscle definition, is quite delicate. Well aware of this, Julian is partial to wearing thick drapery such as a variety of capes and shawls to help fill out his silhouette. Relationships Julian has established a close relation with most people in the Citadel. However, his current situation has made him much less popular. Gabriel: His confidant, the only person he trusts with the crutial information he'd never entrust to anyone else. Julian's relationship with Gabriel often breaks the boundries of being merely professional, as Gabriel tends to address Julian more casually as a concerned friend and peer than formally as an Admiral working under a Pillar. Julian seems to encourage the more friendly relationship, arguabley because Gabriel may very well be the only trustworthy, loyal friend Julian has at this point in time. Mana: Having been in a rather close relationship with her for a number of years, hers was the relationship most compromised when Julian started carrying out his questionable actions. As soon as Julian made claim over her position as Military Pillar, her feelings towards him became acidic. She rarely misses an opprotunity to lay down emotional abuse on him, assuming he doesn't care anyways. Despite offering exactly that outwardly impression, Mana's great disdain towards him is his biggest cause of emotional termoil. He only prays that she continues to maintain her cool around him as to not inflict physical violence upon him. If an argument were to turn physical, Julian knows he'd stand no chance against the woman. Wesley: Julian dispises and fears the soothsayer for his potential to blow his cover and expose the truth about the city's situation. Julian is effectively able to predict or manipulate the reactions of almost everyone in the Citadel, but Wesley is a complete wild card. Without even knowing the soothsayer's personality, motives, or concerns, Julian wishes every day that the man would just dissappear from existance. Avery: The two share a strained, and strictly professional relationship. Avery's loyalties still reside with Mana, and while Avery reports to Julian, Julian's aware that this is only out of a sense of duty. Julian's very careful as to not disclose any information to Avery he'd not want reaching Mana. Natalja: Natalja's perhaps the only person who still has hopes that Julian will wake up and realize that what he's doing is wrong. Julian himself works effectively to erode that hope with every conversation he holds with her.